The invention concerns a centrifuge, preferably a sterile laboratory centrifuge, with an intake channel for the material being centrifuged, a runoff channel for the clear phase, and a drum with a centrifuging space comprising a separation space equipped with a package of disks and a solids space, whereby an initial operation that comprises introducing material to be centrifuged into the separation space and separating the solids from the clear phase is followed by another operation that comprises discontinuing the intake of material to be centrifuged and introducing rinse into the drum through the clear-phase runoff channel.
A centrifuge of this type is known from Canadian Patent No. 607 737. The heavier phase of the liquid is conveyed to a runoff from the separation space by way of an annular channel during the initial operation. During the second operation, when the supply of material to be centrifuged to the drum is discontinued, rinse is introduced into the clear-phase runoff channel to clean the package of disks, the solids space, and the other components inside the drum. The rinse is then removed from inside the drum by way of the heavier liquid-phase runoff.